Equality under the law applies equally to priests

If there has been a historic problem with the leadership of the Catholic Church being defensive, disrespectful and in denial when it comes to claims of sexual abuse by its clergy, then Cardinal Pell has shown this tradition to be alive and well (''Pell defends confessional silence over sins of fathers'', November 14).

His welcoming of the royal commission was not contrite or apologetic but combative and accusatory, claiming the commission would reveal the extent of media exaggeration of abuse and prove that it's not only Catholic priests doing it. Barely a whimper for the victims.

I do not however see a problem with the ''inviolable'' sanctity of Confession just because there are legal consequences involved. We tell people of all religions, with particular emphasis on Muslims, that they must obey Australian secular law over their religious obligations. If a Catholic priest is still entirely able to conceal knowledge of abuse given during Confession then Australian law is able to prosecute them for concealing a crime.

Julian Brown Manly Vale

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If Cardinal George Pell insists on the ''sanctity of the confessional'', he must realise he is doing nothing to quash the suspicion that the Catholic Church is more interested in its own preservation than in exposing crimes committed by members of the church.

If it is mandatory for teachers, doctors, social and community workers and others to disclose matters of child protection, why would Cardinal Pell believe some exemption applies to priests?

On another level, I wonder what code of ethics or value system supports the view of Cardinal Pell?

Ross Butler Rodd Point

Cardinal Pell is wrong to think that an unreasonable interpretation of Catholic lore is acceptable to Australians. A confessional which discloses criminality, such as paedophilia, doesn't permit a priest's silence ethically, morally or spiritually. Pell should have instructed his priests accordingly. The consequences of inaction were dire and unconscionable.

The church needs to apply the principle of Confession to itself. There is no point administering spiritual cleansing to its flock if it forgets to cleanse itself.

Martin Bell Balgowlah

If there is one thing that must come out of the forthcoming royal commission it is that we as a society should no longer accept the notion of the sanctity of the confessional. To do so places the laws of the Catholic Church above those of the state, and is indefensible in modern society.

How many crimes could have been avoided had priests been able to go to the police after having heard confessions of abuse? And how many more priests used the confessional as a way of squaring their conscience with God before receiving their penance and going on their way to do it all over again, untroubled by secular law?

Gina Hay Bayview

That prominent Catholic politicians such as Barry O'Farrell and Christopher Pyne are questioning the seal of Confession in the face of Cardinal Pell's insistence on its retention raises the question, are we on the threshold of a new Reformation?

James Prior Sylvania Waters

Barry O'Farrell doesn't have to ''struggle'' to understand why admissions of paedophilia in the confessional box shouldn't be brought to the police. All he has to do is legislate that no religious order or institution, or anyone residing in NSW, has indemnity to our laws. That would eliminate many problems including where state and federal laws come into conflict with religious teachings. I believe no one is, nor should be, above the law and certainly not religious institutions that receive public funding.

De Brierley Newton Glebe

What's the going penance for a priest who confesses to paedophilia - a couple of rounds of the rosary and a promise not to do it again?

Paul van Reyk Petersham

Cardinal Pell uses the argument that "the seal of Confession is inviolate" to absolve confessors of responsibility for what they hear. But after Confession comes Penance with absolution. I was always led to believe that the absolution was dependant on the penance. For peccadilloes the tariff was in Hail Marys, but the origins of Penance were based on things like self-flagellation and sackcloth-and-ashes. It would have been easy, and still is, for the tariff for child abusers to be mandated by the church that they be required to hand themselves to the civil authorities as their penance and as condition of absolution.

Bernard McMinn Mawson (ACT)

No, Cardinal Pell, just because the belief in a fictional figure can allow someone in a divided box to keep secret any disclosure of crimes against society is stretching the bounds of credibility.

Zuzu Burford Heathcote

If Priest A confesses that he has committed a crime (any crime) to Priest B and Priest B then reports it to the police, cannot Priest B then confess to Priest C that he has done something he shouldn't have and get absolution? Surely Priest B's wrongdoing is far more forgivable than Priest A's.

Problem solved.

Ruth Franklin St Ives

So, Cardinal Pell, just for clarification purposes: is the ''seal of Confession'' considered to be more inviolable than the sacrosanctity of innocent children?

The importance of healing, however, does not seem to be appreciated by the O'Farrell government. The West Street Centre in Wollongong successfully helps survivors of child sexual assault, young people and adults alike, and employs highly professional therapists, yet it is threatened with closure.

It is not the only community service to be targeted for closure; indeed funding has already been withdrawn from some.

How can we countenance spending millions on lawyers for a royal commission while depriving the very people the commission is concerned about of the therapy they need, just to save a few thousand dollars? It just doesn't make sense.

Barry O'Farrell has his priorities wrong. He should be helping the healers, not closing them down.

Geoff Gordon Cronulla

The Catholic Church is one of the great dichotomies of the world. So many truly good people inspired by their faith to do wonderful work while they are so badly let down by an ossified hierarchy that long ago lost sight of the true message of Jesus.

My thoughts are with those people at this time. I know they are sickened by the events that have occurred under the auspices of the faith they hold so dear.

As an afterthought, I don't think George Pell is the man who should be speaking for the Church in this situation. The times require diplomacy, not a raging bull in a china shop.

Bruce Ingrey Redfern

I am a former member of the NSW Police Force with 17 years of service. I was a student at St Paul's Marist College (now Holy Spirit College) and raised as a Catholic by Catholic parents. Fortunately, I was not subject to any sexual misconduct by priests or brothers during my 11 years within the Catholic education system.

However, my first arrest in 1975 (at age 19) was that of a Marist Brother in the sand hills of Kurnell who had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy.

We had located his motor vehicle secreted in bushland at Kurnell at 1am, full of male pornography on the back seat. A check quickly revealed that it was registered to the Marist Brothers at Dundas. A search of bushland located the predator and his victim.

He was charged with indecent assault of a male juvenile and granted bail to appear at the Sutherland Local Court. He was given an extremely lenient sentence and released into the care of the Marist brotherhood, where they undertook to seek and provide counselling for this predator.

I cannot provide any further evidence of his remediation or otherwise, but I can tell you that this event represented the last time I referred to myself as a Catholic.

I have no faith in the Catholic Church or its ability to rid itself of an ingrained history of perverse and disgusting betrayal of our children's innocence.

I completely support the actions of Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who should be highly commended for his actions and protected from any negative impact on his future in the NSW Police Force.

Mark Luchetti Figtree

Grecian comrades

How vain they are. I have never seen more men in their 60s, 70s and 80s with lush, jet-black hair as have fronted up at the Chinese Communist Party Congress. Little or no sign of the ageing process.

Grey or snowy white hair must be a no-no in Chinese society, particularly among its political leadership. Their vanity is only exceeded by their indifference to massive corruption within their ranks.

Michael Gamble Belmont (Vic)

ALP chief must act

Once John Robertson recovers from the entirely unexpected shock he received at seeing current and former Labor members of parliament appear before ICAC, perhaps he can let us know how he plans to restore voter confidence in the party (''Labor factions keep the flame of failure burning brightly'', November 14). Suspension of the party membership of the individuals involved, if that is all that is planned, will have as much force as the proverbial limp lettuce.

Voters are owed an explanation of how Eddie Obeid came to exercise so much power for so long with so little scrutiny. If John Robertson is to provide effective leadership, he needs to address this issue and outline any strategies he has to prevent this ever happening again. Shock at recent events and moral outrage will not suffice.

Genevieve Kang Glebe

If the Obeid family made serious money from serious fraud, can we, the public, expect some equally serious prison time will follow?

John Elder Drummoyne

P-plate phlebotomy

I am a 73-year-old blood-donating ex-teacher who continues to donate because there is an ever-increasing demand for blood. I derive some compensation for the rather tedious routine from the knowledge I might save a P-plate driver's life. So why don't we encourage the P-plate age group to be donors, too?

Instead of that outmoded and ungrateful custom of the muck-up day, HSC students could commit to give regularly, beginning at the local collection centre on leaving day. The collectors could even dress up as vampires to inject some much-needed fun into the exercise and the local press could be on hand to record their community spirit.

Sue Roberts Lake Cathie

Gaming the system

Unless things have changed since I last withdrew some cash from a club-based ATM with a limit (''ATM limit for punters 'a safety risk''', November 14), all you have to do is make one or more separate withdrawals provided you don't exceed your personal card limit.

Max Petrie Palm Beach

Fed up with whingeing NIMBYs

I am not going to complain about the government, the railways, aircraft noise, development, in fact about anything that most people complain about. I am going to complain about NIMBYs.

These ''Not in my Backyarders" are people who complain about anything that impacts on their lives. Basically they can't think of anyone but themselves.

They stall the construction of new highways but yell loudly if they're caught in a traffic jam. They'll happily drive around on ugly roads all day but complain at the construction of a new railway station. They'll complain about the construction of a new school but overlook overcrowding in their local schools. They halt development, force bus companies to take the long way round, and restrict the operation of goods trains and aircraft to certain periods of the day.

They're quite happy to have coal-fired power stations going 24 hours a day but they'll halt construction of wind turbines. Basically they halt progress and, for that matter, employment; they delay the construction of infrastructure that our entire world needs. They restrict the operation of amusement parks and museums, which can force them to close, taking the fun out of people's lives.

We have been affected by the complaints of whingeing NIMBYs. They ought to think about what they're saying and its impact on the world around them. They have to realise that if you move near an airport, you must expect aircraft noise; if you live in a modern city, one of the costs is that you will have to live with the noise created by the environment around you - it's a part of living in a progressive world.

If they don't want to put up with noise at all, they should go and live in the middle of the Simpson Desert.

Stephen Miller East Maitland

St John's coverage overlooks the good

As a former (female) St John's College student, I have read the recent articles and letters with sadness and dismay. Undoubtedly the behaviour of some students has denigrated the college since I left in 2009, but the portrayal of its student body as being mostly from a privileged, elitist, conservative background and having little idea of how the rest of the world lives is ignorant and prejudicial against the majority of the student population.

To see comments from readers calling for employers not to employ St John's College graduates undermines the achievements of myself and my peers, most of whom have survived without the money or connections of our parents. In my year alone, one female graduate from Grafton is working for the UN; another male graduate competed in the Olympics this year.

Coming from a poor family from the far north coast, I worked at least one job, often two, throughout college to support myself, while undertaking a law degree and also sitting on the house committee.

For every bad action that has been reported, countless good deeds and achievements by hard-working students have been ignored. For every student using Daddy's connections to get ahead, there are scores more who, due to their social and leadership skills and balanced life gained from living on campus, are working hard in deserved roles.

And for every allegation of misogyny and objectification against the males of St John's College, there are far more female graduates from St John's who love and adore the men they spent their college days with like brothers. Please do not tar us all with the same brush.

Sarah Bell Glebe

Brothers in arms

If Bill Clinton was still president of the United States, General David Petraeus would have been given the Congressional Medal of Honour.

Al Clark Belrose

Lay Curti charges

I am a teacher at Navitas where Roberto Laudisio Curti was a student. I never met him but like many people was shocked and concerned at his death and the evidence given at the inquest ('''Thuggish' police face action over death of Brazilian student Roberto'', smh.com.au, November 14). Ms Jerram's finding is that "it is impossible to believe that [Roberto] would have died but for the actions of the police". Why then are the officers involved not being charged with manslaughter?

Annabel Little Bondi Junction

Someone killed Roberto Laudisio Curti; he didn't commit suicide. And yet considering the evidence, not least the visuals, will there be arrests and jailings? No. And no, policing is not war, where people are killed with apparent impunity.

Garry Manley Newtown

Slow lane blues

I confess to be being frequently Lycra-clad in Centennial Park but, sadly, my lack of velocity means I cannot lay claim to being a hoon (Letters, November 14). Even more sadly,